ChoraChori has successfully supported the prosecution of a child rapist in Nepal – the first of many.

A Nepali Times article from last month highlighted how in Nepal cases of reported rape have quadrupled in the last ten years. Over half of the victims are children and one in five are under the age of ten. Sadly, due to a combination of factors, the prosecution rate has been very low and that is something we intend to address. And we have had our first success in this regard.

Thirteen year old Karuna (name changed) lived with her family in a rented room in a village in east Nepal. Suresh Kumar, aged 40, lived next door. Karuna often called him “uncle” and he was trusted by the family. One afternoon earlier this year Kumar invited Karuna over to his place where he raped her. He threatened to kill Karuna if she told anyone about it but she was brave enough to tell her mother who filed a complaint with the police and Kumar was arrested.

After the incident, Karuna became frightened of reprisals from Kumar’s family and, together with having to contend with the stigma associated with rape, she felt the need to move out for a while and until Kumar was prosecuted. We admitted Karuna to our psychosocial support programme at our children trauma management centre which is within our Kathmandu refuge. There she was also able to take part in craft and income generation activities (see title picture).

Our legal team became involved too, verifying statements and supporting Karuna through the daunting prospect of court hearings and ensuring that the government prosecutor was well prepared. Last week Kumar was sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay 50,000 Nepalese rupees (£350) to the family. This might seem like a paltry sum however ten years in a Nepali prison is a very unpleasant prospect and a step in the right direction. We will call for much tougher sentencing in future.